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Games Workshop

Hobby Update – Reaper War Mammoth

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Reaper Bones War Mammoth

I’ve cracked it – a quick scheme to get some models done and then I can use them for scenery (or maybe a cheeky Kings of War army if I can work out the basing)… the scheme will be familiar to regular readers of the blog as I’ve used it on a bit of terrain recently, including on some Age of Sigmar terrain, Guardian Idols, and some Reaper Giants.

This week I’ve gone big… and I mean line of sight blocking big. And what is bigger than an elephant… well a wooly one! The Reaper War Mammoth.

Reaper Bones

For those who have not seen them, Reaper are a miniature company in the US who predominately deal in figures for RPGs and painters. As such they can be used for any game system and I’ve definitely seen them in Kings of War armies before where the different base sizes are not too much of a limitation… just put as many as you want to on each unit base.

I picked him up along with my Reaper Giants on the last Kickstarter, and unfortunately he’s not on the website yet… but he is a beast.

Pictures

How do they play?

So I’ve painted mine as Terrain so he’ll be blocking line of sight on a table near me, once I work out the basing for him. In the meantime these models could easily be placed on square bases and used for Kings of War.

Woe Points and Hobby Bingo

This also contributes to two of the methods I’m trying to use to reduce the pile of shame or potential! Woe Points is -2 for him (although I’ll be seeing if Peter will be nice and give me a few more) and a monster square on Hobby Bingo. If you want to be involved in either of these aides to clearing the pile of potential then join us on our Discord Channel.

Paints Used

The painting scheme used is the same as the terrain from the last 3 weeks, repeated here with another sparkly new picture! (Eagle eyed viewers will notice he blends into the background better as I’ve been undergoing an intensive week of training on the IT we use at Woehammer from Peter!)

Buying a Box

I got mine through Reaper Bones Kickstarter. This is not available anymore and he hasn’t reached the website yet; but no doubt he’ll there soon as he’s a lovely looking model and was a joy to put together and paint.

— Declan and Eeyore

Games Workshop

Hobby Update – Reaper Bones Giants

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3 Reaper Bones Giants painted as statues

After a few weeks of painting terrain I’ve discovered I can paint the scheme I’ve got quickly and with multiple disruptions. This is great and still keeps me painting and doing hobby! A win, win!

Reaper Bones

For those who have not seen them, Reaper are a miniature company in the US who predominately deal in figures for RPGs and painters. As such they can be used for any game system and I’ve definitely seen them in Kings of War armies before where the different base sizes are not too much of a limitation… just put as many as you want to on each unit base.

I picked up these models (1 Storm Giant and 2 Yephima, Cloud Giant) via a Kickstarter. They are nice and large and imposing and the Storm Giant could definitely be a statue of Sigmar on the battlefield. I would guess that Yephima will be a little more of a marmite model (love it, or loathe it), but I think she works well as a large statue to join my ever growing pile from the last few weeks.

Pictures

How do they play?

So I’ve painted mine as Terrain so I’ll definitely need to combine them to make a table at some point! In the meantime these models could easily be placed on square bases and used for Kings of War.

Woe Points and Hobby Bingo

This also contributes to two of the methods I’m trying to use to reduce the pile of shame or potential! Woe Points is -6 for these group and three squares of Hobby Bingo which I’ll ask Peter to update for me! If you want to be involved in either of these aides to clearing the pile of potential then join us on our Discord Channel.

Paints Used

The painting scheme used is the same as the terrain from the last 2 weeks, repeated here with another sparkly new picture!

Buying a Box

I got mine through Reaper Bones Kickstarter. This is not available anymore and the larger Storm Giant hasn’t made it onto the website yet, but Yephima (the Cloud Giant) is. The good news is that Reaper now sell and ship within the UK both to FLGS and direct from their website!

— Declan and Eeyore

Games Workshop

Hobby Update – Age of Sigmar Guardian Idols

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2 Guardian Idols for Age of Sigmar Battlefields

Once again I find myself in the situation of taking my own advice on Hobby Slumps. It’s not really a slump, so much as no tournaments to aim for and not enough time to do models that need a lot of detail. So, following on from last week’s terrain I’ve got the bug for painting grey (strangely) and I went into my still to be painted box of terrain and picked out two new Guardian Idols to build and try.

Age of Sigmar Terrain

I’ve painted two models this week. The guardian idols are from the Realmscape Expansion set and they are very nice models. They are however a little strange for gameplay and for the storyline! They are clearly the damaged walls of a settlement but Sigmar’s followers are supposed to be building new settlements… and they don’t block line of sight very well. However they are very nice and imposing.

Pictures

How do they play?

Okay, so my standard format doesn’t work brilliantly with terrain & scenery, but it definitely helps make the table! However, as I’ve said above, they are a little less impactful for gaming purposes. I think I’ll need to base together on a scenery base to allow them to be ruins! Could help them block line of sight if I set them up appropriately.

Woe Points and Hobby Bingo

This also contributes to two of the methods I’m trying to use to reduce the pile of shame or potential! Woe Points is -6 for these group and three squares of Hobby Bingo which I’ll ask Peter to update for me! If you want to be involved in either of these aides to clearing the pile of potential then join us on our Discord Channel.

Paints Used

The painting scheme used is the same as the Giant Head from last week; repeated here with a sparkly new picture!

Buying a Box

I got mine through Element Games and you can too and support the show. There are walls in the box as well which I hope to get to later.

— Declan and Eeyore

Games Workshop

Hobby Update – Age of Sigmar Terrain

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3 Scatter Terrain features from Age of Sigmar

Once again I find myself in the situation of taking my own advice on Hobby Slumps. It’s not really a slump, so much as no tournaments to aim for and not enough time to do models that need a lot of detail. So, after finishing off the Warmaster Dire Wolves I’ve decided to step it up, and get cracking into my terrain collection.

Like many people I did part of the Age of Sigmar Hatchette partwork to get some nice toys, and my particular favourite magazines to pick up were the ones with terrain. Fighting over painted terrain that has an affect on the game is great fun, and – whilst I can’t guarantee these will have an effect – they can certainly hide foot characters from shooting and magic!

Hatchette Partworks

Normally these are pretty bad value and aimed at collectors who can’t miss items but for the Warhammer world they are proving to be a great way to pick up some good value toys at a regular drop rate that it is possible to keep on top of… as demonstrated from the below; I’m a little behind on mine though!!

Age of Sigmar Terrain

I’ve painted three models this week. A Giant Head of Sigmar (capitalisation obligatory), and two of his favourite doggos. The head can come with a platform but I got the Warcry box set so already have one like that… and it’s big enough it can just about be used to hide a foot soldier, or keep a small unit alive.

The Doggos are great models as well, and really fun to paint – I’m particularly happy with how the writing came out (Mephiston Red & Caldor Blue) just to add a little bit of colour.

Pictures

How do they play?

Okay, so my standard format doesn’t work brilliantly with terrain & scenery, but it definitely helps make the table! Certainly a step up from books under a green sheet!

Woe Points and Hobby Bingo

This also contributes to two of the methods I’m trying to use to reduce the pile of shame or potential! Woe Points is -9 for these group and three squares of Hobby Bingo which I’ll ask Peter to update for me! If you want to be involved in either of these aides to clearing the pile of potential then join us on our Discord Channel.

Paints Used

Peter has been diligently working away in the background on some Woehammer specific graphics and one of my favourite is the painting schemes for the Space Marines… so I’ve stolen it for my Hobby Articles going foward.

Buying a Box

I got mine through Hatchette so it’s likely you’ll be able to pick these up on Ebay… or ask your local gaming group – there’s likely to be someone like me who always intended to paint them up. Maybe they’ll be willing to sell them on to help with their own Woepoints! Getting the pieces from GW is not as easy though as they discontinue scenery sets very quickly for some reason!

— Declan and Eeyore

Games Workshop

Hobby Update – Warmaster Dire Wolves

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8 units of Warmaster Dire Wolves (3 bases per unit)

Warmaster is the game of Kings, and it has been kept going by a dedicated group of people as Warmaster Revolution. It’s a great square based, unit game where you can have cavalry sweeping around flanks and infantry bravely holding woods and towns.

I have an Empire army and a Goblin army but as like many wargamers I have a few other armies on the go as well – in various stages of painting (read… none!)

Vampire Counts

Vampire Counts are an interesting army in that they can’t use initiative to charge. This means that things can get a little difficult when the enemy gets within 20cm, as the enemy can auto-charge and the Vampire Counts can’t. But there are two big compensating factors available for the budding general – no -1 command if within 20cm effectively meaning that the Vampires are as good at Command as Dwarfs when the battles get close and combat is joined. The second factor is the ‘Raise Dead’ spell which can generate new skeleton units directly into combat… a real game winner if used welll – just roll 6s!

Vampire Count Dire Wolves

In common with all units in Warmaster the Dire Wolves have an easy attribute line: 2/3/- (2 attacks per base, 3 hits per base, no save). But they also get an additional +1 attack when they attack in the open – so although they have no save they can hit like a tonne of bricks all for 40 points a unit. It is no surprise they are limited to 4 units per 1,000 points.

Pictures

How do they play?

As above, they are very good! I think they are essential in the army although when you start losing them you will risk your break point. Remember to run them away if you need to!

Woe Points and Hobby Bingo

This also contributes to two of the methods I’m trying to use to reduce the pile of shame or potential! Woe Points is -24 for these group and three squares of Hobby Bingo which I’ll ask Peter to update for me! If you want to be involved in either of these aides to clearing the pile of potential then join us on our Discord Channel.

Buying a Box

I bought mine from Printing in Detail but they have since stopped trading. But good news – the sculptor is Forest Dragon and there are some resellers available (who have bought retail pledges from Forest Dragon to allow them to print for resale)

— Declan and Eeyore

Games Workshop

Hobby Update – Kruleboyz Hobgrots

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3 x 10 Kruleboyz Hobgrots

With the release of the Dominion boxset last year, I picked up a few sets as I have some aspects of all the destruction armies. Unfortunately, Kruleboyz started off near the bottom of the rankings and haven’t moved since (argueably getting worse). There’s been a few successes but not enough to tempt me away from Big Waaagh and Gloomspite.

But with fewer tournaments on the horizon and a pressing need to paint something a little easier there was some good news for my Kruleboyz… or at least the Hobgrots – they had reached the top of the ‘to be painted’ pile!

Kruleboyz Hobgrots

My destruction armies are painted to go together so that meant only one thing – Blue! However I wanted to try something different so I decided to paint the skin of the Hobgrot units different colours – and Contrast colours gave me the ideal opportunity.

The colours I chose were Volupus Pink, Plaguebearer Flesh, and Iyanden Yellow… all over a white undercoat, over black. This has recently started to be called ‘Slap-Chop’ after the Honest Wargamer did a painting episode!

The Honest Wargamer – with a painting video!

Pictures

How do they play?

Well, unfortunately not well – but they are cheap. At 80 points for 10 they can serve as shields… but they are lacking synergies with the rest of the Kruleboyz list. No key word as the Orruks don’t trust them with poison so they don’t benefit from the allegiance abilities. It’s all a bit unfortunate and still definitely needs some work.

Woe Points and Hobby Bingo

This also contributes to two of the methods I’m trying to use to reduce the pile of shame or potential! Woe Points is -33 for these group and three squares of Hobby Bingo which I’ll ask Peter to update for me! If you want to be involved in either of these aides to clearing the pile of potential then join us on our Discord Channel.

Buying a Box

You could pick up a box of these chaps, but really you’re looking on ebay. There’s so many Dominon boxes and many were split up for selling – as such there’s lots of Hobgrots available.

— Declan and Eeyore

Games Workshop

Hobby Update – Dwarf Blood Bowl Team

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11 Dwarf Blood Bowl Players

Day four of my Blood Bowl updates and the last one for a while. So I finished with a strong team – Dwarfs!

You can check out my Orcs, Skaven and Human teams from previous days if the tough little blighters are not your thing!

As with the other teams the Dwarfs were assembled and so just needed a spray undercoat and they were ready to go. I decided to go a little different for these guys and use a metallic base – Retributor armour. And, as everyone who follows cricket will know – green and gold go together; so the off-colour was chosen as well!

Blood Bowl Dwarf Team

The box set comes with 6 Dwarf Blocker Linemen, 2 Runners, 2 Blitzers and 2 Troll Slayers. Unfortunately the Troll Slayers have a single connection to the base, and one of mine broke. So in keeping with my intent to keep things quick I’ve put it to one side and will return to it later.

6 Dwarf Blocker Linemen
2 Blitzers
Troll Slayer and 2 Runners
The Full Team

As I mentioned above the base of the models is Chaos Black and then a very heavy drybrush of Retributor Armour for the bright gold look. I have then picked out a few of panels in Leadbelcher, to get a little contrast.

The hair is Wild Rider Red for the Troll Slayer (got to have bright orange hair for a Troll Slayer) and then grey, brown and black for the other models.

And the under armour/cloth is Warboss Green – a great colour with good coverage over black and the gold.

I really like how they’ve come together and the spotty green flock on the bases make them a little different from the other Blood Bowl teams I’ve already painted.

How do they play?

Dwarfs have Block – lots of it! So your guys are not falling over too often and ‘Both Down’ results don’t result in a turnover – great news. But there is a downside – Dwarfs are expensive with the Linesmen costing 70,000 each (compared with 50,000 for most non-Elf teams), and they are slow (movement 4 for the Linemen). You’ll need to defend in depth otherwise the quicker teams will have scored 3 times before you get enough space to make it through.

Whatever you do, when you get the ball, don’t give it up – you’ll need it and you need to keep your opponent away from it! This all makes Dwarfs a good team, but difficult for beginners so don’t worry if you lose a few games – they are a great team once the skills start rolling in.

Woe Points and Hobby Bingo

This also contributes to two of the methods I’m trying to use to reduce the pile of shame or potential! Woe Points is -11 for this group (so -23 so far in 2023) and another square of Hobby Bingo which I’ll ask Peter to update for me!

Buying a Box

You can pick up a box at Element Games (UK), or at Not Just Gamin’ (US) and support Woehammer(*); or pop into your FLGS.

— Declan and Eeyore

(*) affiliate link

Games Workshop

Hobby Update – Human Bowl Team

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12 Human Blood Bowl Players

Regular readers and followers of my update will know I’ve recently finished two Blood Bowl teams, and this update is a third. And it’s a return to another classic – this time with Humans.

These were also already assembled and I decided to do these in traditional colours – or at least predominately… so I opened up another my commonly used colours and went with – blue!

Blood Bowl Human Team

The box set comes with 6 Human Linemen, 2 Throwers, 2 Blitzers and 2 Catchers.

6 Human Linemen
2 Throwers… including Golden Boots!
2 Catchers
2 Blitzers
The Full Team

The Blood Bowl teams are (so far) all great fun to paint. These required a little more work, because I needed to do the underarmour/cloth first and decided to do this in red as a different contrast to the traditional bone/white options.

I then went over the armour panels in Caledor Blue which has great coverage over most colours – including the rough bits of red I’d left behind. In this team I also decided to add a few different colours and skin colours – so there are some different colour shoes (including Golden Boots), and some darker skin players to add much needed variety.

How do they play?

Humans are the other original team, with the Orcs painted recently and they are the definition of all-rounders. They have reasonable armour, can participate on the line of scrimmage and pass and catch (although be wary of high agility teams intercepting the ball).

The catchers are the most fragile of the players and so are likely to not be involved in all the drives, but if you can keep them alive there’s always the possibility of a quick score as well as the ability to break into any Orc ‘cages’ that your opponent may have set-up.

Woe Points and Hobby Bingo

I also get credit for this with Woe Points and Hobby Bingo… so that is -12 Woe Points already and a square ticked off.

Buying a Box

You can pick up a box at Element Games (UK), or at Not Just Gamin’ (US) and support Woehammer(*); or pop into your FLGS.

— Declan and Eeyore

(*) affiliate link

Games Workshop

Hobby Update – Skaven Blood Bowl Team

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14 Skaven Blood Bowl Players

Hot on the heels of the Orc Blood Bowl Team being completed, I decided I would try to get a few more teams finished… and next on the pile was always going to be the Skaven. I’ve loved the Skaven Blood Bowl team since the 2nd Edition (the original one, not the reboot!) as it is the polar opposite of the Orc team.

Low armour, good agility and 1 turn touchdown scoring Gutter Runners (with a few skills and movement increases. What’s not to like.

Blood Bowl Skaven Team

The box set comes with 6 Skaven Clanrat Linemen, 2 SkavenThrowers, 2 Stormvermin and 2 Gutter Runners. I added to this 2 Rat Ogres for a bit of beef in the team. Also who doesn’t like Big Guys?

6 Skaven Clanrat Linemen
2 Stormvermin
2 Skaven Throwers
2 Gutter Runners
2 Rat Ogres
The Full Team!

I painted these using elements of ‘Slap Chop’ for the skin and black cloaks and then ‘battle ready’ for the armour. I’ve not done purple/pink and yellow before and I think it works well for a small force – not sure how I’d feel about it on a full Skaven army in Age of Sigmar or The Old World though. May be a bit too comic for that.

The skin is Volupus Pink (contrast) and the armour is Averland Sunset with a wash of Iyanden Yellow. Yellow’s are much better than when I started gaming and this is a great combo. Makes me wish we had these colours when I painted Empire – always liked Stirland (Green and Yellow).

The Rat Ogres were a suggestion by one of my Hobby Buddies – Chris Denmark. They are the Rat Ogres from the old Warhammer starter set – Island of Blood – which featured Skaven against High Elves. I used them here without conversion – just a change of base shape. I have used a slightly larger base than used in most Blood Bowl models but as long as they don’t stand next to each other too often it should be fine to have a little overlap of the squares.

How do they play?

As mentioned above Skaven are fast… lightning fast. The Throwers combine very well with the Gutter Runners to produce some very quick touchdowns and I’ve been 3-0 up with Skaven before half-time in games under the previous edition.

With mutations they are also a team that opens itself up to converting if you want to, or buying small expansions from Forgeworld.

The Rat Ogres provide a little extra bulk, but they can be a liability as they can be easily surrounded and brought down as the Gutter Runners rush through the gaps – be careful of teams that like to foul like Goblins and Snotlings – they can take out the big guys surprisingly quickly.

Buying a Box

You can pick up a box at Element Games (UK), or at Not Just Gamin’ (US) and support Woehammer(*); or pop into your FLGS.

— Declan and Eeyore

(*) affiliate link
PS – These don’t count towards my ‘Woepoints‘ in 2023 because I actually finished them between Christmas aand New year 2022!

Games Workshop

Hobby Update – Orc Blood Bowl Team

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12 Orc Blood Bowl Players

I’ve been struggling a bit recently to complete my Age of Darkness boxset having done all the troops I now have the Dreadnought and Spartan on the painting table, but just can’t seem to make progress. This is probably because I’ve not painted tanks in a long time!

So, I took my own advice and decided for a change… but I wanted something with a definite end. Fortunately I’ve got a lot of the new Blood Bowl teams which have been unpainted on a shelf since the re-release.

The major advantage here was they were already assembled so I could get straight to it. And the first team was clear… Orcs!

Blood Bowl Orc Team

The box set comes with 6 Orc Linemen, 2 Orc Throwers, 2 Orc Blitzers and 2 Big Un Blockers.

6 Orc Linemen
2 Orc Throwers
2 Orc Blitzers
2 Big Un Blockers (painted with darker skin)

They didn’t take very long to paint but are none-the-less lovely models and take undercoat and paint nicely. The team also comes with some coins that you can paint, but I’ve not got to them!

The scheme is very much inspired by the original Gouged Eye team but also by my available paints for my AoS armies and Blood Angels… so red all the way! It doesn’t show perfectly in the pictures, but I’ve used Khorne Red and Mephiston Red to give a little variety.

How do they play?

Orcs are one of the original two teams and they can play in all types of drives in Blood Bowl but they are mostly about hitting and not getting injured, with AV (armour value) of 10+ for most of the models except Throwers.

And if things get desperate and you find yourself behind on the scoreboard then a throw to a Blitzer is always a possibility… but keep some team re-rolls available as nothing has catch.

Buying a Box

You can pick up a box at Element Games (UK), or at Not Just Gamin’ (US) and support Woehammer(*); or pop into your FLGS.

— Declan and Eeyore

(*) affiliate link
PS – These don’t count towards my ‘Woepoints‘ or Hobby Bingo in 2023 because I actually finished them between Christmas aand New year 2022!